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THE LATE DEVENSIAN AND FLANDRIAN VEGETATIONAL HISTORY OF CROSE MERE, SHROPSHIRE
Author(s) -
BEALES PETER W.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1980.tb04454.x
Subject(s) - radiocarbon dating , pollen , lithostratigraphy , geology , paleontology , ecological succession , chronology , deposition (geology) , physical geography , structural basin , archaeology , geography , ecology , biology
SUMMARY The vegetational history of Crose Mere, north Shropshire, is reconstructed by means of pollen analysis, lithostratigraphy and radiocarbon dating. Pollen diagrams from a core representing the Flandrian and Late Devensian are presented. Eleven radiocarbon dates were obtained from the Flandrian and these allowed the estimation of pollen deposition rates from pollen concentrations. The pattern of vegetational changes shows close similarities with those from the lowlands of north‐west England notably the appearance of Pinus sylvestris after Corylus avellana, Ulmus and Quercus in the forest succession. The effects of man on the environment are traced and four main agricultural episodes are distinguished after the ‘elm decline’ at about 5300 B.P. Comparison of pollen percentage and absolute data highlights the problem of interpreting pollen deposition rates from a basin with uneven sedimentation and the possibility of resuspension of freshly deposited sediments.